Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Book Review: Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne

 

Title: Paper & Blood
Series: Ink & Sigil Book Two
Author: Kevin Hearne
Genre: Magic; Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: August 10, 2021
Publisher: Del Rey Books

There’s only one Al MacBharrais: Though other Scotsmen may have dramatic mustaches and a taste for fancy cocktails, Al also has a unique talent. He’s a master of ink and sigil magic. In his gifted hands, paper and pen can work wondrous spells.

But Al isn’t quite alone: He is part of a global network of sigil agents who use their powers to protect the world from mischievous gods and strange monsters. So when a fellow agent disappears under sinister circumstances in Australia, Al leaves behind the cozy pubs and cafes of Glasgow and travels to the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria to solve the mystery.

The trail to his colleague begins to pile up with bodies at alarming speed, so Al is grateful his friends have come to help—especially Nadia, his accountant who moonlights as a pit fighter. Together with a whisky-loving hobgoblin known as Buck Foi and the ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, along with his dogs, Oberon and Starbuck, Al and Nadia will face down the wildest wonders Australia—and the supernatural world—can throw at them, and confront a legendary monster not seen in centuries.

 

Rating


*A Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this. This is my honest and unbiased review*
 
Hello Fellow Readers,

I am going to just be honest up front, while I did enjoy Paper & Blood, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. This one just sort of dragged on a bit and had a different feel than the first one did. I think it had to do with the Iron Druid being very prominent in this book, him, along with a couple of other characters made an appearance. I felt this took away from Al & his crew being the center focus.
 
The pacing was also a little slow as well, this book also included a couple of small stories sprinkled in through out the book taken from other POVs. This to me just seemed like a page filler and took away from my immersion with the story. That's not to say I didn't like the book, because I did. The actual main story was pretty interesting, and I always like Buck Foi. We also got to go into a little about Gladys who has seen some shite and who is also Canadian.
 
Overall, not as strong as the first book but I am still interesting to see where this goes. 

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